We had an attack intruder in the coop at UF2200 on Monday. It was not pretty by normal standards, but by natural standards, there were/are lovely aspects I think worth sharing (some images may be hard for some to see). Not long before the attack, we had, we thought, successfully moved the chickens to a new location on "the farm" -- behind the big downed oak tree, a location rich with insect and larvae infested logs and a lush mat of weeds, brush and shrubs. We meticulously stitched together various leftover sections of mesh of varying styles to enclose--top, bottom and sides--a rather large area, a system we are determined to improve upon next move! We were happy to see the chickens happily scratching and exploring their new coop and returned to our respctive jobs of starting seeds and building the coldframe. Not long after, however, we heard lots of ruckus in the "lower field." When I went down to check, it was too late. One of the chickens lay dead at the entry. In the corner of the coop there was still lots of commotion. Frantic in the corner I saw the culprit. Scared and desparatly trying to escape after his (or her) snack, was a hawk. Justin handled the hawk while I gathered the chicken. Before letting the hawk go, I snapped lots of pix. My what fine eyes you have! My what a fine, bloody mouth you have, my what lovely wings you have! My what a marvelous creature you are....But you can't have the chicken. The legs, yes, the feathers, the innards yes, but our dear layer will be with us. That's right, we decided to de-feather, and prepare her for the next stage. Adam and Justin lead the process for this. Adam having had lots experience at both Coon Rock and in Hawaii. Justin experienced with a rooster and a rabbit. Me? I'd stuffed sparrows and other song birds back in my birding days. Adam's recipe for defeathering: dunk chicken in NOT boiling water, but rather 60 degree C for no more than 1 and a half minutes. Remove chicken and begin plucking. This part was easier than expected. After chicken is free of feathers, then the gory part begins. Slice the backend, cut through the fat very carefully as not to get the bile bag, and open wide enough to get hand in. Gently and carefully (still trying to avoid the bile bag) remove intestines, gizzard, heart, lungs, liver, the bile bag, and WOW, are those eggs?We saved some and gave the rest to the hawk.
We'll let you know how the chicken soup turns out!
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